With Big Ten Announcement, USC’s 2024 Schedule Is Absolutely Brutal
The Big Ten Conference released part of the 2024 and 2025 football schedule Thursday and it does not bode well for the USC Trojans.
2024 will mark the first season for both UCLA and USC in the Big Ten, creating some exciting, previously uncommon matchups.
For USC in particular though, the announcement means 2024 is going to be an absolutely brutal year.
The Trojans will host Illinois and Iowa, and travel to Purdue, Maryland and Rutgers with their customary matchup against UCLA at the Rose Bowl.
That all sounds manageable, until you see the rest of the lineup.
They’ll also have home games against the Wisconsin Badgers and Michigan Wolverines. And go on the road to play Penn State.
But that’s just conference games. And USC set themselves up for an extremely difficult non-conference schedule too.
The Trojans will play the LSU Tigers in Las Vegas on Sept. 1 to open the season, and host Notre Dame at the end of November.
That means USC in 2024 plays:
All in the same season. Oof.
LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 23: USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley looks on during USC Trojans Spring Game on April 23, 2022, at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
USC Has Huge Challenges Post-Caleb Williams
The 2023 schedule sets up much more favorably for reigning Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams.
But with Williams the consensus #1 pick after his junior year, the Trojans will have some scrambling to do for 2024.
And just about the worst way to start the post-Williams era is playing a perennially tough SEC team like LSU.
Out of conference schedules are set years in advance, meaning USC had no way to know how what they’d gotten themselves into.
SEC and Big Ten fans will have no sympathy for the Trojans, considering the Pac-12’s relative weakness in previous seasons. But it’s a brutal gauntlet for the first year in the conference regardless.
USC’s one advantage is that many of their toughest games come at home or at a neutral site.
They’ll host Michigan, Wisconsin and Notre Dame, with a short trip to Las Vegas to play LSU.
Still, what a way to start in a new conference. And given a road visit to Ohio State in 2025, it won’t get much better.
Expanded Playoffs Start To Mater
2024 also marks the first year of the expanded College Football Playoff, which could prove important.
READ: COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF REPORTEDLY EXPANDING SOONER THAN ANTICIPATED
In years past, a schedule with that many difficult opponents would likely mean an insurmountable road to the playoff.
But with 12 teams now getting an invitation, losing two or potentially even three games may still be enough.
With super conferences like the Texas and Oklahoma SEC and now the Big Ten, tough schedules like this will become increasingly common.
And in reality, it’s a reason for college football fans to celebrate. Historic powerhouse programs will now play more frequently, making for significantly better matchups.
While the regular season may be a bit devalued by expanded playoffs, USC’s schedule shows it’ll also be a lot more fun and exciting to watch.